Dry charge cigarette lighter



Sept

1969 P. B. FERRARA 3,464,776

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United States Patent f 3,464,776 DRY CHARGE CIGARETTE LIGHTER Peter B. Ferrara, 1206 Vermont Road, Bel Air, Md. 21014 Filed Sept. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 665,691 Int. Cl. F23q 2/42, 2/06; F23d 3/18 U.S. Cl. 431-124 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

Lighters of the cigarette type are often included in survival kits for starting fires, smoking, etc., instead of matches which are useless when they become wet.

However, the problem in using cigarette lighters is the loss of fuel required which evaporates when stored for any length of time and require refilling, which is impossible, of course, unless a supply of fuel is available, which is usually not the case.

Also, many types of lighters have valve mechanisms which permit leakage of the fuel due to seals such as rubber gaskets which deteriorate eventually.

The present invention provides a means for storing a supply of lighter fluid indefinitely and overcomes the problem of evaporation and leakage by an ampule containing a liquid fuel. The ampule is completely padded by an absorbent material such as cotton and the assembly is wrapped in a material such as cheesecloth to hold it together as a unit.

The fuel unit can be stored indefinitely or until used.

Further, the unit can be used for other purposes, such as removing spots from clothing, etc.

The unit is also impervious to wetting, since, until the ampule is crushed, the fuel will remain intact, being sealed in the ampule.

It is therefore an object of this invention is to provide a fuel unit which may be inserted in the reservoir area of a cigarette lighter.

Another object is to provide a fuel unit for a cigarette lighter that will store a liquid fuel indefinitely.

A further object is to provide a fuel unit containing a liquid fuel in which the fuel will not leak or evaporate.

A still further object is to provide a liquid fuel unit for a cigarette lighter in which an ampule of frangible material and containing the fuel is completely padded with an absorbent material and the assembly enveloped in a material such as cheesecloth.

A final object is to provide a fuel unit in which a plurality of ampules of liquid fuel are contained whereby the ampules may be individual crushed as needed.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the annexed drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross section taken through a cigarette lighter and showing the fuel unit of this invention as applied;

3,464,776 Patented Sept. 2, 1969 FIG. 2 is a detail view showing a modified piercing means;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fuel unit and being partly broken away to disclose structure;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a modified form of fuel unit; and,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a base pad for storing flints.

Referring in detail to the drawing wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several figures, reference character 1 indicates a typical cigarette lighter, generally.

Lighter 1 includes a case 2 having a lid 3 which may be hinged as at 4 to a case 2, an inner body 5 which is insertable in case 2, a flame guard 6, a wick 7, a sparking wheel 8, a flint well 9 for receiving a flint 10 which is biased towards wheel 8 by a spring 11, a threaded closure 12, a base pad 13 for storing extra flints, and a reservoir area 14 in the inner body 5.

The fuel unit of the invention is indicated generally by 15 and is shown as inserted in the reservoir area 14, ready for use, as in FIG. 1.

Fuel unit 15, as shown in FIG. 1 and 3, comprises an ampule 16 made of glass or like frangible material. .Alnpule 16 contains a liquid lighter fuel 17 hermetically sealed therein.

A padding of cotton, felt or like material absorbent material 18 is wrapped around ampule 16 and the padding 18 is wrapped in cheesecloth 19 or other similar material.

To facilitate withdrawal of the unit 15 from area 14, a loop 20 (see FIG. 3) may be attached to one end of the unit 15 as shown.

A means for storing extra flints and for spacing the unit. 15 in area 14 is provided and consists of a block 21 of suitable material, which is transversely bored at expedient points, as at 22 (see FIG. 5).

A wick pad 23, of cotton or like material, may be provided and will be placed adjacent wick 7 and unit 15. (Wick pad 23 could be dispensed with if necessary, since its purpose is to fill up space and prevent the unit 15 from separating from wick 7 in area 14 and loose contact therewith) While the unit 15 is shown in FIG. 1 to contain a single ampule 16, more than one could be contained therein, as for example, see FIG. 4 wherein is shown, three ampules 16a to permit use of one ampule at a time, leaving the others for future use.

The fuel unit 15, base pad 13 and the wick pad 23 may be packed as a kit for supply if desired, and the contents of the kit will be used according to the depth of the reservoir area of the particular lighter in which they are to be used. Sometimes all three elements will be used, or the wick pad or the base pad left out if the reservoir area is too small to receive them.

If the lighter case 2 is made of metal or other rigid material, it will be necessary to include means for breaking the ampule 16.

As seen in FIG. 1 a lever 24 may be pivoted as at 25 and project through a slot in case 2. Its inner end is sharp as at 26. To fracture ampule 16 the lever 24 is rotated and the sharpened portion 26 will pierce the outer wrapping 19 and the padding 18 and fracture ampule 16 and permit the liquid fuel 17 to escape into the padding 18 and wick pad 23 and saturate wick 7.

A modified piercing means is illustrated in FIG. 2 wherein a spring loaded plunger 27 is used instead or" a lever.

Other means for fracturing the ampule 16 may be employed such as for example: the case 2 could be of a flexible material whereby the sides of the case could be squeezed together by the fingers of the user to crush the ampule 16. This method would preclude any leakage of the lighter fluid due to slots in the case, etc.

The fuel unit 15 could be used also for cleaning spots on clothing. The unit would be squeezed to crush the ampule 16 and the unit would be used as a pad to rub out the spot.

To place a unit in a cigarette lighter, the cotton in the reservoir area 14 is removed and the unit 15 is substituted, pad 23 and spacer 13 used as needed.

The ampule 16 may be made of various sizes and shapes as desired to fit many types of lighters.

The use of more than one ampule is particularly desirable when the lighter is accidently submerged in water or otherwise wetted; simply by crushing another ampule, the lighter is again ready for use.

Also the fuel unit affords a long life of usage. By using several ampules in a unit, the life of use is extended by the number of ampules.

While only preferred forms of the invention are shown and described, other forms of the invention are contemplated and numerous changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a dry charge cigarette lighter including a case, a removable inner body for insertion in said case and having a reservoir area therein, a wick extending into said reservoir area and a flint and sparking wheel igniter for said wick; a replaceable fuel unit for supplying fuel for said lighter and adapted to be inserted in said reservoir area, said fuel unit comprising at least one ampule of frangible material having; a liquid fuel hermetically sealed therein, a padding of absorbent material completely surrounding said ampule, a fabric enveloping said padding, a loop attached to one end of said fabric to facilitate removal of said padding and ampule from said reservoir area; a wick pad for placement between said fuel unit and said wick; a spacer for placement between said fuel unit and the floor of said case and means carried by said case for fracturing said ampule whereby the fuel therein will escape to saturate said padding, said wick pad and said wick.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wick pad consists of an absorbent material.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spacer comprises a block having transverse bores adapted to receive extra flints therein for storage.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for fracturing said fuel unit comprises a lever pivoted to a wall of said case, and having one end extending outside of said case whereby when said lever is rotated, its inner end will fracture said fuel unit to release fuel therefrom to saturate said wick.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for fracturing said fuel unit comprises a spring loaded plunger slidable through a wall of said case.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,748,323 2/1930 Arouson 431-142 2,507,839 5/1950 Van Pieterson 431323 X 2,539,653 1/1951 Back 431322. X 2,678,553 '5/1954 Bryant 431-124 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,826 1912 Great Britain. 932,123 11/1947 France.

EDWARD J. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 431-323, 344 

